Siena Heights University to drop ACT/SAT requirements

By Dan CherryDaily Telegram Staff Writer

Saturday

Jan 23, 2016 at 2:00 PM

Why this matters

Students who learn through both conventional and unconventional means deserve opportunities to gain entrance to college. Siena Heights University has adopted a policy as part of a growing trend to no longer require standardized testing in order to give more students an opportunity to go to college.

Beginning with the 2016-17 academic year, Siena Heights University will no longer require undergraduate applicants to submit SAT or ACT test scores for university admission.

The university is adopting a test-optional admissions process to give more students opportunity to get into college. The university will concentrate on high school coursework and grades as the most important factors, officials said. A student’s writing skills, recommendations, involvement in school and community and personal qualities and character will also be considered.

The policy change is a growing trend across the United States, particularly with private colleges and universities such as Siena Heights University.

Steve Cohen, an attorney at Kramer, Dillof, Livingston and Moore in New York City, and co-author of “Getting In: College Admission and Financial Aid in the Digital Age,” said the test-optional route is being used by approximately 300 colleges across the country.

“Lots of good colleges making the shift,” he said.

The decision

SHU Vice President of Enrollment Management George Wolf said the decision to adopt a “test-optional” policy was made in response to recommendations from the division for enrollment management and endorsed by the university’s admission and standards committee, as well as the faculty.

The university examined the value of test scores in understanding how a student performs at Siena Heights. SHU’s findings supported conclusions reached by other universities and studies — college success can be predicted based upon a student’s high school record, especially in a thorough review of his or her college preparatory coursework.

Wolf said the intent is to also increase access for “high-achieving students who have historically been underrepresented at selective colleges and universities, including students of color, first-generation students and students from low-income households.”

Wolf said the test-optional policy “sends a message to prospective students that if you are smart, hard-working and have challenged yourself in a demanding high school curriculum, there could be a place for you here.”

SHU President Sister Peg Albert said the decision “is central to the history of Dominican education, and especially important now in an era of demographic, economic and educational change.”

SHU’s Director of Undergraduate Admissions Trudy Mohre said the university wants students from a diverse background, “regardless of their standardized scores.”

“Although we have long employed a holistic application review process, we had concerns that students who could be successful at Siena Heights felt discouraged from applying if their scores were not as strong as their high school performance,” Mohre said.

Students may be required to submit standardized test scores for admission to specific academic programs, validate athletic eligibility or prove eligibility for some federal or state scholarship programs, officials said.

Cohen said that, in short, “SAT and ACT measures ability to take that test. For some kids, the SAT and ACT are really formidable exercises and the exercises don’t reflect their abilities.”

When a college eliminates the requirement for one or both tests, Cohen said, “applications go up.”

Cohen said the downside is that taking SAT or ACT out of equation can make the review process more difficult.

“You have to look deeper at the candidates’ application,” he said.

When it comes to trends, Cohen said, “wealthier kids take more time taking test prep courses than other kids. It reflects socio-economic background as much as education.”

Another college’s viewpoint

Hampshire College President Jonathan Lash in September wrote on the college’s website the decision was made in 2014 to drop standardized tests from its application process as part of its new mission-driven admissions strategy.

“If we reduce education to the outcomes of a test, the only incentive for schools and students to innovate is in the form of improving test-taking and scores,” Lash wrote. “Teaching to a test becomes stifling for teachers and students, far from the inspiring, adaptive education which most benefits students.”

Lash said it was the college’s findings that SAT and ACT scoring are “strongly biased” against low-income students and those from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Since dropping the ACT/SAT scoring requirements from its admissions process, Lash said, that college is seeing “remarkable admissions results.”The percentage of students who accepted Hampshire College’s invitation to enroll increased from 18 to 26 percent. Class ethnic diversity jumped from 21 percent in 2013 to 31 percent. First-generation students accepted to college also rose from 12 to 18 percent.

“Our shift to a mission-driven approach to admissions is right for Hampshire College and the right thing to do,” Lash said.

Adrian College maintains testing criteria

Adrian College Vice President Frank Hribar said the post-secondary institution has no plans to pursue the test-optional route.

“Adrian College currently requires submission of an ACT or SAT score as a criterion for admission to the college,” he said in an email. “Adrian College will continue this practice into the foreseeable future. Standardized test scores are among several criteria the college’s admissions office considers in making admissions decisions.

“We do not rely on standardized test scores alone; and, prefer to utilize as many predictors as we have access to in considering admissions decisions,” Hribar said.

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